The Cliff House by Chris Brookmyre
As much as we all love crime fiction, sometimes it can get stuck in an irritating groove. Remember when every other book had ‘Girl’ in the title? Recently there has been an onslaught of dodgy new neighbours causing havoc in quiet suburban cul-de-sacs. And as…
Val McDermid's Karen Pirie comes to ITV
Val McDermid’s cold case police detective Karen Pirie is coming to the small screen in September 2022 in a new three-part ITV crime drama. Adapted from the first novel in the six-book series, The Distant Echo, the programme will star Lauren Lyle of Outlander fame…
Confidence by Denise Mina
Denise Mina is back with the second in her new ‘C-series’, featuring Anna and Fin. 2019’s Conviction introduced us to podcast fanatic Anna McDonald and rockstar Fin Cohen as their lives were turned upside down by failed marriages and they embarked on a non-romantic adventure…
May God Forgive by Alan Parks
May is a good month for the Scottish crime fiction author Alan Parks. In 2022, it has seen him win the Edgar Award for Best Paperback Original for Bobby March Will Live Forever, alongside the launch of the latest book in his ‘months’ series, May…
The Doctor will see you now... Alan Parks
Scottish author Alan Parks has reached book five in his series featuring police detective Harry McCoy. The series is set in Glasgow in the 1970s, with each title featuring the name of a month. It began with Bloody January back in 2017, and May God…
1979 by Val McDermid
What constitutes a historical crime novel? That’s something I mused upon while reading this book, the first in a new series from the queen of crime, Val McDermid, featuring journalist Allison ‘Allie’ Burns. Unsurprisingly, it is set in… 1979. But that’s only a handful of…
The Undiscovered Deaths of Grace McGill by CS Robertson
Death cleaning is a sad necessity we don’t want to think too much about. The clearing of the homes of those who die unmourned and unmissed is carried out by local council workers like Grace McGill. It happens every day of the week. It’s something…